Page 86 of Study Buddies

“Dude, chill. It’s not up to you, it’s up to Tori. And it’s not like anyone would make you to take part.”

“Why not? You seem fine forcing her to do it.”

“We’re not forcing her. We’re asking her if she wants to.”

We all watched for Tori’s reaction, even Lucas, who was still insisting this wasn’t happening.

“Seven minutes is a long time,” she said, “especially in a public building.”

“Seventy seconds,” Jayden suggested.

Lucas continued to be the world’s nerdiest cock block. “We’re not doing this.”

“Doing what, exactly? No one’s making you do anything.” I sighed loudly. “Whichever two of us are back there can do whatever the fuck we want. Hell, when it’s your turn, you and Tori could alphabetize the books on the shelves if that’s what floats your boat.”

“They’re not alphabetical,” my moronic stepbrother scoffed. “They use the Library of Congress Classification system.”

“Do youeverget tired of sounding like a nerd?”

“Do you—” He stopped when Tori put her hand on his forearm.

“Lucas, please. No one’s making me do anything I don’t want. I kind of like the idea of… being alone with each of you. But not if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“It should makeyouuncomfortable,” he growled.

“Dude, don’t,” Jayden jumped in. “You think you’re protecting her, but really, you’re just telling her how youthinkshe should feel. And ignoring how she actually feels.”

Reluctantly, Lucas met Tori’s eyes. He obviously expected her to be scandalized, but she wasn’t. If she were, I’d call it off myself.

She still had her hand on his arm, and she squeezed lightly. “Why don’t you and I go first? We can do whatever we both decide on. And hey, if you’d like, I could listen to you rant about what an asshole Kyle is for the entire time.”

I cracked up. Tori was fucking perfect.

“Or you could leave,” Jayden said. “No one is making anyone do anything.”

“Please?” Tori asked. Then she shook her head and started again. “I didn’t mean that. I meant… if you want to do this with me, then please don’t let the part of you that says we shouldn’t win out.”

Lucas was silent for at least half a minute. Then he sighed. “This is really what you want?” he asked Tori.

“Yes.” Her answer was firm.

But Lucas just had to put one more protest on record. “This is messed up.”

“Yeah,” Jayden said. “That’s what makes it fun.” He winked at Tori, and she smiled at him.

I had to resist the urge to slam my fist down on the table in triumph. Iknewshe’d be into this.

She turned those gorgeous dark eyes back to Lucas, and his shoulders sank in defeat. I bit back a laugh. He could try to stick to the high ground, but there was no chance in hell he’d pass this up. He was fucking crazy about her.

She held out her hand, and Lucas took it. They got to their feet at the same time Jayden did.

“You stay here,” he said with a finger pointed in my direction. “I’ll keep watch and the time. Then I’ll come get you when it’s your turn.”

Fine by me. I’d pass the time staring blankly at my laptop screen while thinking of all the things I wanted to do with Tori. I’d probably need about seven days to do them all.

Lucas reappeared a few minutes later, looking pleased with himself. He didn’t even seem to notice me, he just sat down at his place with a smile on his lips. Was that a dab of Tori’s lipstick smeared at the corner of his mouth?

Okay, so he’d kissed her, at the very least. And, I had to admit, she’d probably liked it. Lucas and Natalie used to lie on the sofa in the living room, entangled with each other and kissing for hours on end. He must’ve neutered himself to be able to kiss a girl for so long without needing to get his rocks off.

---